Many public health officials say the success of COVID-19 sewage surveillance should make it a regular tool in tracking infectious diseases.
One of Patrick Green’s first orders of business each day is to open a tap and fill a bottle with sludge.
Across the country, academics, private companies, public health departments and sewage plant operators have been working to hone a new public health tool, one with uses that could reach well beyond COVID. Wastewater surveillance is not a new concept, but the scale and scope of the current pandemic have vaulted the technique over the narrow walls of academic research to broader public use as a crucial tool for community-level tracking of COVID-19 surges and variants.
William Wong, director of utilities for Modesto, oversees water and sewage operations. Since early in the pandemic, he’s wanted to monitor the city’s sewage for SARS-CoV-2. It’s a natural extension of his work; the safe disposal of excrement is a foundation of public health and modern society. “We always viewed what we do as protecting the public health,” Wong said.